In truth, there’s a place for both in the industry today, but this is a new-look Microsoft trying to fit into a new world of creators and builders.

While Reseller News editorial doesn’t claim to be New Zealand’s leading interior design experts, nor does it possess a rich knowledge of cocktails and canapés, some industry changes are too blatant to miss.

In fact, editorial knows the difference between funky stand-up events laid on by Google and Amazon Web Services (AWS) - in rooms with brick-work showing and craft beers on tap - compared to long-winded sit-down evenings of rehashed IT jokes and poor sounding cabaret.

Microsoft has also moved away from the latter, in favour of the former.

They are chalk and cheese, and crucially, they attract different audiences. Is it simply coincidence that one plays host to developers and the other, resellers?

A little too observational perhaps, but in a world dominated by marketing and messaging, the traditional channel would be amiss to discount this purely as a change of scenery - this is more than a new coat of paint.

But such a shift should come as no surprise for the ecosystem of more than 2,400 partners in New Zealand, partners that have witnessed first-hand the fundamental changes instigated from the top down at Microsoft.

As observed by Reseller News at the time, through headlining the Microsoft Developer Day Aotearoa New Zealand, Nadella outlined how developers can help shape the future with an intelligent cloud platform and artificial intelligence.

In aligning with the developer community, Microsoft once again sent subtle - or perhaps not so subtle - signals to its traditional channel base.

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Malwarebytes shoots the breeze with channel, prospects

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